


The Evaluation

by BadassBurgess



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Drama, F/F, Police, Wrestling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:20:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24585985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadassBurgess/pseuds/BadassBurgess
Summary: Amanda Rose has been recruited by SCPD Intelligence Division, but first she must pass a month-long evaluation.
Relationships: Sasha Banks/Bayley | Davina Rose
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

"I'm going back into uniform for a while," police officer Bayley Martinez informed her girlfriend Sasha Banks shortly after arriving home from a shift.

They were in the kitchen of their apartment, where Sasha was making them dinner. Cooking was something she enjoyed, and as Bayley happened to be totally incompetent at it, the arrangement worked for both of them. Sasha turned from the cooker to look at her girlfriend with a look of concern on her face. "Why? You haven't been fired from Intelligence Division, have you?"

"Me? Fired from Intelligence? Of course not!" Bayley said theatrically, grinning. She then answered the question seriously. "No, you remember when I got home last night I told you the woman we arrested on the raid turned out to be a cop? Well, Thorne decided to take her off of her old unit and bring her into Intelligence."

"She can do that?" Sasha asked, showing surprise. She was now back to her cooking, albeit keeping half an eye on Bayley to make sure she didn't sit on any of the work surfaces, which was a longstanding source of playful antagonisation between them.

"I think Thorne can do pretty much whatever she wants," Bayley said. "So, I found out today that our new recruit, Amanda Rose, is on the team. The problem is she's been undercover with a gang for nearly two years. Her police work might be a bit rusty, as Thorne put it. For that reason, she's been told she has to do a month in uniform before she can join Intelligence, if it goes well. As I'm the only other uniform on the team, I have to join her. It'll be my job to evaluate her and report back to Thorne on whether she's right for Intelligence."

"And how do you feel about that?" Sasha asked.

"Mixed emotions," Bayley admitted. "I'm grateful for being given the responsibility. But at the same time I love working in Intelligence, as you know. I kind of hoped I was done writing traffic citations and arresting drunks for fighting outside of nightclubs."

"I hear you," Sasha said, looking at her again for a moment. "And this, Amanda, I think you said her name is? What do you think of her?"

"I don't know her yet. Going nearly two years under is impressive. But whether that means she's a good cop or not, I don't know. She sure doesn't look like a cop."

"What do you mean?"

Bayley chuckled. "She looks more like a fitness model or something. She must have had a hard time at the academy with all the guys."

"Just so long as you don't find her attractive," Sasha said, turning around again to face Bayley.

Bayley walked forward and kissed her girl on the tip of her nose. "Of course not. I only have eyes for you. Besides, blondes have never been my thing."

"That's true," Sasha acknowledged with a smile. "And I get to see you in your uniform again, which is hella sexy. Now, make yourself useful and set the table while I plate this up."

"Yes, boss," Bayley said with a grin.

* * *

Bayley had made sure to arrive quite early for her first shift back in uniform. Even so, she wasn't the first to arrive in the room. Indeed, Amanda Rose was one of the women there before her, she discovered. She had been assigned a locker not too far from Bayley's, and as yet there was no one between them.

"Morning," Bayley said as she opened her locker. She had arrived dressed in her uniform, but there were still some preparations to make before roll call.

"Oh, hey," Rose said, no particular emotion in her voice. "It's been a while since I put one of these on," she added as she buttoned up her uniform shirt. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun, something that Bayley was able to avoid having to do with her shorter hair. It at least seemed to move Rose a bit further up the scale towards cop from fitness model.

"Same," Bayley said. "I've got mixed emotions about it, honestly."

Rose continued dressing herself without reply. Bayley's mixed emotions seemed to be a matter of supreme indifference to her. Indeed, she said nothing else until she was ready to leave. "Where do we take roll call?" she asked, walking past a few women in the now busy locker room to approach Bayley.

"Follow me," Bayley said. If Rose wanted to be all business, that was fine with her. Some cops were like that.

"Who's the sergeant?" Rose asked as they left the locker room.

"Her name's Rousey. She's seriously tough, and just as hard to impress. I should know, she was also my training officer."

Rose gave a single laugh. "Must have only recently made sergeant then?"

"Yeah, about a year ago. Right about the same time I made Intelligence."

"How did you get that gig, anyway? Thorne doesn't seem like the type to pick people up fresh out of rookie year."

Bayley winked at her. "I guess it depends how good your rookie year was." It had been meant as a joke, but it seemed to impress Rose a little.

The roll call room wasn't far from the locker room. They walked in and sat down, about halfway from the front. Bayley felt sure that wouldn't prevent sergeant Rousey from singling her out for comment on her return to uniform.

"So, where are we hoping not to be assigned?" Rose asked. "I don't know much of Stamford. It wasn't that long ago I came here."

"The east side," Bayley said. "There's a lot of poverty over there. A lot of drug problems, a lot of violence. Since that's where we picked you up, I think you know that."

"Right," Rose said simply, killing the conversation right then and there.

Before long, sergeant Rousey strode into the room. "Alright, quiet!" she said assertively. Silence was immediately granted to her before she even took her position at the front to address them.

"Doesn't look like someone to be fucked with," Rose muttered under her breath to Bayley.

"Nothing special to brief you on today, so let's keep it short and sweet," Rousey said. "Before I get down to handing out your assignments, join me in welcoming Bayley Martinez back to uniform. She's gracing us with her presence from Intelligence for a month."

Bayley felt her cheeks warming up as several of her colleagues turned to look at her. She had expected it, but that didn't make it any less embarrassing.

"And partnering her is Amanda Rose, who joins us from Westchester County. I'm sure you'll all make her welcome. With that said, here are today's assignments."

Bayley waited for her and Rose's names to come up, hoping to avoid being posted to the east side. Shortly, their turn came.

"Martinez, Rose, foot patrol, central shopping district."

Good and bad, Bayley thought. The central shopping district was one of the nicest parts of Stamford City. But on the other hand foot patrol in the middle of winter was never a good thing. She felt glad that she had remembered to put on two pairs of socks.

A few minutes later, everyone was dismissed to start the shift. The first order of business was to go back to the locker room to put their uniform coats on.

"Central shopping district. I think I drove through there to get here," Rose said as they walked.

"Yeah. With a bit of luck this shouldn't be a bad shift. It'll be cold, though."

"We'll have to make sure we happen to keep patrolling past coffee shops then, won't we?"

For the first time, there was humour between the new partners, and Bayley smiled. "I know the best ones."

"Then we'll get along fine," Rose said with a smile of her own.

They both went into the locker room and put on their coats. Both women also had leather gloves to protect themselves from the cold, and Bayley had a beanie hat too.

"All set? We can walk from the station," Bayley said.

"First stop, coffee. Let's go."

Walking together, they left the station and turned right, heading towards the centre of the city. It was so cold that there was ice on the ground, and their breath was visible in the air.

"Two years under. That's quite something," Bayley said in order to strike up a conversation.

"You cant imagine unless you've done it," Rose said reflectively. "I spent pretty much every day of my life with those guys for at least a year and a half. If Jarrett had moved his ass faster we could have rolled up the whole operation. But instead he fucked around and you guys showed up. All that work down the toilet."

Bayley realised the anger she was hearing came from frustration, understandably so. Two entire years of work going up in smoke had to be gutting.

"The thing about undercover work is you get to see the other side of people," Rose was saying. "I know they had to be taken down, and I know Rusty was pulling a gun on Thorne so she had to shoot him, but the guy had a son. I went over to their place with a gift last year on his birthday, and I had some of his cake. Now his dad's dead. It's the most fucked up this job has made me feel, honestly."

Bayley took all of that in, offering a sympathetic smile. She had learned that although Rose came across as a bit of a hard ass, she did care about people like the innocent boy in question. It was a good sign as far as the evaluation was concerned.

"What about you? What's the most messed up thing you've seen or done on the job?" Rose asked as they waited at an intersection to cross the street.

"Boy, that's an easy one," Bayley said. "I had to work with Alexa Bliss, otherwise known as..."

"The Goddess," Rose jumped in. "I've heard of her. Shit, you were on the team when they let her out to give up those bodies? I remember watching it on the news."

"I was," Bayley said as they got the 'walk' signal, and started to cross the street. "It was weather just like this at the time. Seeing ice on the ground always reminds me of standing in that field where she buried those poor people. She's so sick in the head, she loved every minute of it. She picked me as the only person she was talk to, which made it even worse for me. Some of the things se told me made me feel physically sick."

"Oh god," Rose grimaced. "Is it true that she's going to give up more bodies in the future? I remember that being said at the time."

Bayley shook her head, dreading the prospect. "I don't know. I think she would say anything to get into people's head. But is it possible that she will come forward to reveal more victims? Yes."

"There's something for you to look forward to then."

Can't wait, Bayley thought. She shivered, and she felt sure that it didn't have anything to with the cold. Luckily, there was a perfect opportunity to change the subject. "This a good coffee shop up here," she announced. "Let's get one, then we can worry about going to work."

"Sounds like a plan," Rose said.

Bayley noted that if her new partner was nervous in any way about her evaluation, she wasn't showing it. It remained to be seen if the confidence was justified.


	2. Chapter 2

"Thank you," Bayley said as a barista put her drink on the counter beside that of her partner.

"You're welcome. These are on the house. We don't charge the police here," the barista said with a smile.

"That's kind of you, but we..."

"Thanks a lot, we appreciate it," Rose cut in, picking up her cup and turning for the door.

Okay then, I guess we will take them for free, Bayley thought. "Thanks," she said to the barista, taking her cup and following after her partner, who had already left the shop.

"That's good coffee," Rose said when Bayley emerged onto the street. "That's one thing I missed a lot when I was under. Coke dealers don't prioritise their coffee."

"I'm sure they don't," Bayley said, smiling.

The new partners had started walking in the direction of the downtown shopping district, where they had been assigned to foot patrol for the day.

"What was it like having Rousey as your training officer?" Rose asked.

Bayley felt somewhat glad that her partner was attempting to make conversation for the first time. It would have been a long shift otherwise. "It was tough. Real tough," she replied. "She's all about the job. No sense of humour, and no tolerance of failure. But she was a good teacher. I don't think I'd have made it to Intelligence so soon if I'd had a different TO. I appreciate sergeant Rousey for that."

"And what about Thorne?" Rose asked. "There's something about her that makes me a bit wary, and that doesn't happen with many people."

"You've got nothing to be wary of. She's a good boss to work for, very loyal to her people. But for criminals? Yeah, there's something about her to be wary of alright. Thorne was MI6, which is pretty much the British equivalent of the CIA, I'm told. She does things her own way, and she's absolutely not to be messed with. You should also know that Clementine, the girl you met who handles our tech side of things, is Thorne's adopted daughter."

"Oh!" Rose exclaimed. "Well, that's not something I expected. I'm guessing getting on the wrong side of her gets you on the wrong side of Thorne, then?"

"I'm sure it would, but Clem's awesome. I don't think we've ever had a cross word with each other. You should be good."

Up ahead of them, a man in his early twenties was walking by himself. Having finished eating a chocolate bar, he carelessly dropped the wrapper on the floor, apparently not giving it a second thought.

"Hey! You!" Rose called out immediately, causing the man to turn around. "Does that look like the place to put litter?" she demanded.

Rose was speaking more aggressively that Bayley would have done. She decided to let things unfold, though. After all, this was an evaluation.

The young man looked surprised and concerned to have been confronted by a police officer. "Uh, sorry. I wasn't thinking."

"Well get it picked up, unless you want a ticket," Rose said sternly as they reached where the man was standing. The offending chocolate bar wrapped had blown into the icy slush in the gutter beside the sidewalk.

Doing as he was told, the man picked up the wrapper.

"If you're not going to take your litter home, put it in a trash bin. That's why the city provides them. There's one over there," Rose said, pointing across the street.

"I'll take it home," the guy said, stuffing it in his coat pocket.

"Alright, you can go," Bayley said.

The man hurried off, walking faster than the two cops, apparently keen to put distance between himself and them.

"Do you think you might have been a bit aggressive there?" Bayley asked her partner.

"No. I'm a police officer, and littering is an offense. If someone gets caught committing an offense, they should think twice about doing it again, if they're lucky enough to avoid a ticket or an arrest. I think it's safe to say he will do."

Fair enough, Bayley thought. Different cops had different styles, and Rose hadn't broken any rules. Plus it was likely true that the guy would remember the encounter for a while, and remember not to drop his litter.

"About half a mile away, there's a mall," Bayley said. "We'll go in there when we get there and we'll be able to warm up."

"Now that sounds like a plan," Rose said.

* * *

Most of the shift had turned out to be a pretty standard affair for a foot patrol duty around the central shopping district. A large majority of the interactions with the public that Bayley and Amanda Rose, who had announced that she liked to be called Mandy, had experienced had been with people asking for directions.

With not much police work to do, the new partners had been able to get to know a bit more about each other, although Bayley had found Mandy to be pretty cagey at times. It seemed like she didn't trust people easily, which was probably understandable after two years undercover.

With the onset of evening, the amount of shoppers was starting to thin out. Instead, there were people coming out for nights out in the many bars and restaurants in the area. The weather was also getting even colder, which had sent Bayley and Rose into another coffee shop to warm up.

Before their latest order of the day could be prepared, a message came through on their radios from a dispatcher.

"Any central unit, report of a disturbance in the Burger King in the Everglades Mall. Several drunken males causing a scene and refusing to leave the premises."

The mall was only just up the street.

"I guess this is one for us," Bayley said to Rose, who responded by responding to dispatch with her badge number.

"Show us attending, we're nearby."

"Cancel that order," Bayley called to the barista before hurrying after her partner out of the coffee shop.

"Finally, a bit of action," Rose said as they jogged side by side in the direction of the mall.

Bayley wasn't filled with the same sense of enthusiasm. An encounter with a group of rowdy drunks was hardly something to look forward to.

Within a couple of minutes, they were inside the mall, approaching the Burger King restaurant. Before they got there they could hear raucous shouting and laughter coming from inside.

"Let's shut this party down," Rose said.

Although she was prepared to call for immediate backup, Bayley decided to let Rose do things her way for now, in order to evaluate how she handled a disadvantageous situation.

When they walked into the restaurant, the saw the offending group of six men – Bayley counted them – all at the front by the counter, giving some playful but nonetheless uncalled for and unneeded grief to the staff. The few customers who were trying to sit and eat in peace looked a long way from happy about the disturbance.

"Cops," one of the guys said. "Sexy ones, too."

Everyone in the group turned to look, and promptly started cheering and whistling. Bayley didn't have to push her detective skills to the max to figure out that Rose was the object of most of the attention. There was no doubting the fact that she was very attractive, and a lot of guys liked a woman in uniform.

"Alright, I want all six of you out of here," Rose ordered, making a circular motion with her hand, one finger raised.

"Are you really cops? Or are you strippers?" a cocky looking guy with slicked back black hair asked, walking over to Rose.

"Oh, we're cops alright," Rose assured him in a confrontational tone. "And we've got a nice cell for you to spend the night in if you carry on like that. Now, all of you, out! I'm not going to ask you again."

"You heard her. Let's go," Bayley added.

The man with the attitude problem who had approached Rose was clearly roaring drunk. The intoxication caused him to do something particularly unwise.

"You should let you hair down, sweetheart," he said to Rose. As he spoke, he tried to reach up and release her bun.

With a swiftness that impressed even the well trained Bayley, Rose grabbed hold of the man's arm and slammed him face first down onto a nearby table. There was maybe a bit too much force involved, but better a bit much than not enough, Bayley thought.

"You're under arrest," Rose said, yanking the guy's hands behind his back and starting to cuff them.

Meanwhile, the rest of the men in the group reacted with surprise and anger at the way their friend had been dealt with.

"That's police brutality!" one of them shouted, looking like he might come forward and try to go to his friend's aid.

Reacting to the potential danger, Bayley whipped out her metal baton and had it extended in the blink of an eye. "There's two ways this is going to go down. One: Everyone can calm down, the five of you leave right now, and your buddy spends a night in a cell sobering up. Or two: I drop the next person who takes a step towards me, we get a bunch of backup down here and we arrest all of you. What's it going to be?"

"Either way works for me," Rose said. Finished with handcuffing her first arrest in two years, she left him slumped on chair at the table he had been slammed onto and drew her own baton.

After a tense few moments, cooler, slightly more sober heads seemed to prevail.

"We didn't mean anything by it," a blonde guy said in a conciliatory manner. "We're just having a few drinks on a day out."

"The day out's over," Bayley said, closing up her baton and replacing it on her belt, satisfied that the tension had been diffused. "Get yourselves out of here, go home, and think yourselves lucky not to have an arrest against your names."

The men started filing towards the exit, looking at their friend with concern as they passed by him.

"You okay, Andy?" one of them asked him.

"Got a fat lip, but I'm okay. You guys take off," Andy said as Rose took charge of him once more by standing beside him.

"Right, let's wait for your ride to the station," Rose said to him.

Once she was sure that the rest of the drunks had left, Bayley called the incident in, requesting a squad car to come pick up the one offender that they had in custody and informing dispatch that the situation at the Burger King was under control.

"I was only trying to have a laugh," Andy grumbled. It looked like he was going to have a fat lip as a result of his impact with the table.

"Something I can teach you about cops," Rose said. "When we tell you to do something, we're not having a laugh. You might want to remember that. It'll serve you well in the future."

Bayley figured that by the time they got back to the station, processed the arrest and did the paperwork, it would be the end of the shift. So far, Amanda Rose wasn't doing too bad, she thought. But every shift wasn't going to be easy as foot patrol in the shopping district. There would be plenty more tests to come.


	3. Chapter 3

"Maldonado, Shirer, east side. Martinez, Rose, east side," sergeant Rousey announced at roll call.

Great, Bayley thought, looking at her partner. It hadn't taken long for them to get assigned to the roughest part of Stamford City. In fact it was only their third shift together. Still, someone had to do it, and it would likely be a good opportunity to assess Rose's work. It would certainly be better than day two, when they had been at the station all day on admin duty, the most boring aspect of police work by far.

"I knew this was coming sooner rather than later," Rose said after the two partners left the roll call room a few minutes later.

"Me too," Bayley said. "Frankly, I was surprised when Rousey didn't drop it on us day one."

"Yeah, me too," Rose said.

They returned to the locker room in order to put on their coats and leather gloves, for there had been no change in the bitterly cold weather that had been around for at least a week already. To her annoyance, Bayley had forgotten her beanie when she had left home.

When they were dressed up for the cold, they reported to the desk where they were assigned a patrol car and given a holdall containing everything they might need for the shift.

"Car six delta," the officer behind the desk said, placing the keys on the counter beside the holdall. Bayley took both items, leaving Rose to take the final thing they were issued with: a shotgun.

"Have you ever used one of these on duty?" Rose asked, looking at the shotgun as they walked towards the large parking garage and workshop where all of the squad cars were stored. She was carrying the gun correctly, barrel pointing down even though it wasn't loaded.

"No. I've only ever shot someone once, with an AR on an Intelligence job. Shot the guy in the shoulder and took him down. It bothered me for days. How about you?"

"I've never shot anyone," Rose said.

"Keep it that way as long as you can," Bayley advised her. "Real life isn't an action movie. Shooting a person is an awful thing to have to do."

"It doesn't seem to bother Thorne," Rose commented.

Bayley took a moment to consider a response to that. Frankly, it seemed like it was true. In some situations, like when the Intelligence Division team had stormed the warehouse where Mandy had been arrested, Thorne could shoot and kill people like it was the simplest thing in the world. She could also get violent with prisoners in order to get information out of them without showing any remorse.

"Maybe it's the MI6 training?" Bayley guessed. It was the best she had.

"Maybe," Rose said as they entered the garage. "Okay, car six delta. How do we find it?"

It only took Bayley a matter of moments to explain the grid system that the patrol cars were parked in, and a few more to find six delta.

Bayley unlocked the car, and joined her partner in loading the gear into the trunk. With that done, the next order of business was to sort out who was driving. She had already made that decision. "Over to you. Don't crash," she said, tossing the keys to Rose, who caught them one handed.

It was a bit of an awkward dynamic between them because they were the same rank, and Bayley was younger than Rose. But they both knew that an evaluation was taking place, so Rose wasn't going to rock the boat by arguing. In any case, Bayley decided she would take the driving duties the next day to keep things fair.

"Let's go," Rose said, heading for the driver's door. "Let's see if the east side is as big a shithole as everyone makes out."

"Trust me, it is," Bayley said as she got into the car. "For a lot of people there it's not their fault though, they're born into poverty with no way of getting out."

Rose fired up the engine. "Everyone has a way to get out of poverty. Finish school, get a job, don't have kids with someone you don't want to stay with. Do those three things and you won't be poor in America."

Okay, Bayley thought, opting not to respond. She wasn't going to get into a debate on politics when there was a shift to start. "Take a left out of the garage. I'll direct you to the east side, then I'll show you around it."

"And nothing can go wrong," Rose said dryly, with some humour.

"Why would you say something like that?" Bayley said, grinning at her.

* * *

"Jesus Christ. Look at the state of it," Rose said. She had the squad car cruising slowly along a street in one of the east side's most run down neighbourhoods. It was the seediest of the seedy, with graffiti and boarded up windows everywhere. The only sign of life was a hobo pushing a battered shopping cart along, giving the police car a wary look as it passed him.

"Yep. Hookers, overdoses, gang warfare, you'll soon see it all in this part of town," Bayley said. "On the plus side, it's not quite so bad when you're on day shift."

"I'm going to guess you can't get good coffee anywhere around here," Rose said, making it a statement rather than a question.

"No chance. We might be able to get some sludge at a gas station, but that'll be as good as it gets," Bayley said.

"Car six delta, six delta," a female dispatcher's voice said through their radios.

"Six delta," Bayley acknowledged.

"Road traffic accident at the intersection of 52nd and Murray. Multiple vehicles involved. Other units and ambulances en-route."

"Six delta responding," Bayley said.

By the time the call was ended, Rose already had the car's engine roaring. She started the siren blaring and the lights flashing as they approached an intersection.

"Go right here!" Bayley called out.

Ordinarily, an officer would have to know the layout of their district like the back of their hand before their first shift. The out of the ordinary circumstances of Rose's arrival at Stamford gave her a temporary pass on that.

By chance, they were not far from the location of the accident that they had been called to. It only took them a couple of minutes to get there, but they were still the second unit to arrive. A squad car was parked in the middle of the intersection, with the officers already out working the scene.

"Well that's a fucking mess," Rose commented as they took in the scene.

"Park up over there. This intersection is going to need blocking off for some time," Bayley said, pointing to the spot where she wanted the car.

Rose swung the car around and parked it where she had been asked to. With that, they jumped out and had their first chance to properly survey the scene.

There was a dark blue car with a badly damaged front end in the middle of the intersection, with a woman sitting in the driver's seat. Some kind of fluid was leaking out of it, likely hydraulic oil, Bayley guessed.

Next, there was a truck with a freight container trailer. It too had some damage to its front end. It seemed that the truck had been travelling at ninety degrees to the car, indicating that one of them had run a red light.

Lastly, there was by far the worst of the three effected vehicles. Weighing up the location of the completely mangled white car that had ended up on the corner of the intersection, slammed side on into the traffic signal poles, it looked liked it had been wiped out by the truck, possibly in a side on impact. Bayley could see an African American woman trapped in the wreckage, being attended to by the two male officers who had already arrived. As yet, there was no sign of any ambulances, but sirens could be heard approaching.

"That looks bad," Rose said, looking at the destroyed car and its occupant.

"Yes. But there's nothing we can do over there," Bayley said. "Check the other car and see if the driver is okay. I'll check on the truck driver."

They jogged over to the two damaged vehicles. Bayley found that the truck driver had gotten out, and was currently doubled over, being sick. Possibly shock, she thought, unless he happened to be drunk.

"Sir, are you okay?" Bayley asked as she approached him.

Having finished puking, the guy stood up, wiping his mouth on the sleeve of the black hoodie he was wearing. "Jesus Christ. It wasn't my fault," he gasped, looking horrified and panicked by the state of the ruined car a few yards away.

"Can I start by taking your name, sir?" Bayley asked, taking out her notepad. At the same time, she had to keep an ear on Rose, who was now at the car on the other side of the truck.

"Ma'am, can you get out of the car for me?" Rose was asking the car driver.

"Austin," the truck driver said.

"Is that a first name or a surname?" Bayley asked, again speaking calmly.

"Sorry, first name. My name's Austin Theory."

Bayley noted it down. It was hardly the time to be amused at the weird surname. "Can you tell me what happened, Austin?"

"That woman ran a red light! It was her fault!" a man called out from somewhere. Bayley guessed it was a pedestrian who had seen the incident and was reacting to seeing the woman getting out to speak to Rose.

"My light was green," Theory was saying. "I know my light was green, one hundred per-cent. I was driving along as normal, then that other car came out of nowhere. She ran a red light. She clipped the back end of that poor woman's car and spun her right in front of me. There was nothing I could do, officer, I swear. Shit, is she going to be okay? I can't believe how her car flew over there like that."

Bayley detected no smell of alcohol, and saw no signs of drunkenness from him. Added to his obvious distress, his story was believable. An ambulance had now arrived, with the paramedics rushing over to the destroyed car. But Bayley's attention was on Rose's voice, for she was talking loudly, heatedly, to the woman she was dealing with.

"Have you been drinking? You stink of alcohol! Did you run a red light? Tell me what you did!"

"Wait here for me, sir," Bayley said to Mr Theory. "I'm going to have to get you to do a breath test for me, okay?"

"Uh, yeah, okay. I haven't been drinking," he said, sounding kind of dazed by it all.

"It's procedure," Bayley assured him. "I'll be right back."

"You can barely stand up! What the hell is wrong with you, getting behind the wheel like this?" Rose was shouting.

Bayley wasn't happy with her partner. Being angry with a person's recklessness was human, but as a police officer emotions like that had to be controlled. She saw her partner dealing with a young blonde woman who was obviously very drunk.

"Officer Rose, why don't you take a step back?" Bayley said as she joined her partner.

"Look at the state of her. This is how people get killed," Rose said angrily.

"Take a step back. In fact go and give the truck driver a breath test for me. I've got this from here," Bayley said.

"Uh, right," Rose said. It was clear in that moment that she realised she had earned herself a black mark on her assessment.

Yes, we'll talk later, Bayley told her partner with her eyes. For now, there was a drunk driver to arrest and witness testimonies to take.


	4. Chapter 4

"Alright, I've seen the look on your face all morning, Bayley," Rose said as she followed her partner into the canteen at the police station at lunch time. Having processed the arrest of the very drunk driver who had caused the serious road accident that morning, they had handed the case over to two detectives from the traffic desk.

"Yeah, I'm sure you have. We need to have a bit of a talk," Bayley said.

To her surprise, Rose rounded on her before they joined the back of the line for food. "No, Bayley, you can save it," she said heatedly. "That innocent woman in the car that got totalled could have been killed. Shit, she still might die for all we know. That could mean a family without a mother, a husband without a wife, parents without a daughter, and for what? Just because some dumb bitch wanted to knock back a few bottles of wine and go for a joy ride?"

"Alright, let's go outside," Bayley said, aware that her partner's raised voice was causing a scene, with several of their colleagues looking over to see what the raised voice was about. She led the way back out of the canteen and into a small room where stationary and other supplies were kept. Thankfully, Rose had followed her without objection.

"Look, Mandy, there's something that you need to understand," Bayley began once Rose closed the door behind them.

"No, there's something you need to understand," Rose fired back. "You don't out rank me, Bayley. You're my partner, not my sergeant. You're not my TO. I've done my rookie year. Your job is to evaluate me and see if I'm good for Intelligence, not to teach me how to be a cop."

Bayley considered herself to be a patient person. However, that didn't mean she took shit endlessly without reacting to it. "No, you know what my job is?" she fired back with some heat of her own. "My job is to find out if after two years under there's not some criminal left in you now that you've come out. My job is to make sure you remember all the basics. My job is to make sure you treat the public properly, including those who have broken the law. My job is to make sure you treat people with respect, including me." Embarrassingly, her voice had gone a bit high pitched on the last two words, but nonetheless she felt like her point had been made.

Rose seemed surprised by the outburst. In fact, she seemed to looking at Bayley in a new light, maybe with a bit more respect. "There's no criminal in me," was all she said at first. "Our styles are different, but maybe I am a bit rusty," she added eventually.

"Yeah, you are," Bayley said in a more conciliatory manner. "So, maybe let me point it out when I see it and we can work through it together?"

"Yeah, alright," Rose said, and with that fences were mended. "What do you say we grab something to eat and get back out there?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Bayley said, giving her partner a slap on the shoulder.

* * *

It was a day for road accidents, apparently. Bayley found herself shivering as she looked at the scene of the second one that she and Rose were attending. A white van had crashed into the left rear corner of another white van. No one had been hurt, and there was no involvement of alcohol this time. The only causes were some slightly careless driving and poor road conditions.

One van's front axle was broken, as was the rear axle on the other, meaning that neither vehicle was going anywhere until trucks arrived to move them. Therefore Bayley and Rose were part of the team of officers assigned to keeping the road closed.

"What happened?" an old man asked officer Rose as he approached the road block on the sidewalk. To her credit, she avoided the use of sarcasm in her reply.

"A traffic accident, sir," she said. "But you can continue on your way. It's not closed to pedestrians."

"Car six delta, six delta," the female dispatcher's voice said through Bayley and Rose's radios.

"Six delta," Bayley acknowledged, wondering why they were getting a call when they were already on a job.

"Report back to the station immediately, six delta."

"We're still on scene at the RTA, over," Bayley said, giving Rose a look of confusion.

"Report back to the station immediately, six delta. Confirm."

"Confirm. Reporting back to the station immediately," Bayley said. The order was bizarre, but it wasn't her job to quiz the dispatcher on it, who almost certainly wouldn't have an answer anyway.

"What the fuck is that about?" Rose asked.

"I have no idea. But look on the bright side, it'll be warm there," Bayley said, rubbing her gloved hands together. "Let's find someone to cover for us, and we'll get out of here."

* * *

"This isn't exactly how I imagined my first shift on the east side going," Rose said as the two officers walked into the police station through the front entrance. "I haven't encountered a single crackhead yet."

Bayley grunted a laugh. "I doubt your luck there is going to hold for very long."

They walked up to the front desk, where sergeant Rousey was supposed to be on duty. Instead, there was a regular officer there, a guy named Robinson.

"Ah, Martinez," he said when he saw them. "Rousey wants to see you two in her office."

"What gives?" Bayley wanted to know.

Robinson shrugged. "Don't ask me, I just work here."

Smiling slightly to acknowledge the humour, Bayley set off towards the sergeant's office.

"I'm not going to ask what you think this is about, because you plainly have no idea," Rose said, tagging along beside her.

"No clue at all," Bayley said.

Shortly, it was time to find out, as they reached Rousey's office. The door was standing open. Bayley knocked on it as she walked in, then froze in her tracks when she saw who was sitting with the sergeant.

"Hello, officer Martinez. I've heard y'all have been making quite a name for yourself," detective Lacey Evans said in a southern drawl.

The only time Bayley had encountered Evans had been when she had worked with her on the mission to get the serial killer Alexa Bliss, known as The Goddess, to give up the locations of some of her victims. Her presence in the station now could only mean some more involvement with Bliss was upcoming, which was the absolute last thing Bayley wanted in her life.

"Bliss?" Bayley asked weakly.

"Oh shit," Rose said behind her, then quickly held up an apologetic hand to the sergeant for her language. "Sorry. Excuse me, sergeant Rousey."

Rousey let it slide, keeping her attention on Bayley. "Yes, Alexa Bliss. She was attacked in prison last night, by two inmates. She was badly beaten, and one of them tried to strangle her to death."

"Tried to?" Bayley said. Part of her felt bad that the attempt had apparently failed, which left her confused as to whether she should feel that way or not.

"Tried to," Rousey confirmed. "Bliss is alive in hospital, and she's going to be fine. The reason you're here is that the near death experience has apparently made her decide it's time to give up more bodies. And she wants to deal exclusively with you again."

"But what about Mandy? I mean officer Rose? I'm evaluating her for Intelligence."

"I've handled that for y'all," Evans said. "I've spoken to Commander Thorne, and she's happy for you to speak to Bliss, and to work with us on whatever operation may result, on the condition that officer Rose joins you. She said it would be a good test for y'all."

Of course she did, Bayley thought, sighing inwardly. That was it decided, there was no avoiding another encounter with the creepy, vile serial killer. "When do we have to go?" she asked.

"Now," Evans said, getting up from the chair she had been sitting on. "I'll drive us over there. As you know, Bliss has been my case from the start."

Yeah, and god knows what that must have done to your mental health, Bayley thought.

Sergeant Rousey had nothing to add, so Bayley and Rose left the office with Evans.

"Looks like I came to Stamford at the right time. This should be interesting," Rose said, sounding upbeat about what she was heading into.

Evans was not impressed at all. "There's nothing remotely enjoyable about dealing with Alexa Bliss. We're talking about someone who murdered more people than we even know about; people who died in the most horrifying circumstances. This is not a day out at the zoo. I suggest you change your tone, officer."

"Right, sorry," Rose said sheepishly.

"Now, Martinez, as much as it sits wrong with me to dance to Alexa's tune, the fact of the matter is she's decided she will only give information about her victim's remains to you, so you've got do everything you can to get it out of her, for the sake of the families of the people she killed."

"Yes, ma'am, I remember from last time," Bayley said. It wasn't as if she could have forgotten any of it even if she had wanted to. "Speaking of last time, I'm glad some of the families got closure. I saw something on the news about it."

"They were very grateful for our help," Evans said as the group walked out of the station's front entrance. "If you like, I could arrange for you to meet some of them? After all, it was you who got Bliss to open up and stop messing us around with those fake locations."

"I'll have a think about that," Bayley said, feeling a little taken aback by the surprise offer.

"Sure. I'll give y'all my number. You can call me if you decide it's something you want to pursue. For now, let's focus on potentially helping more people. Here's my car," Evans said, approaching a black Lexus in the parking lot.

Before getting into the car, Bayley exchanged a look with Rose. She saw something that looked a bit like admiration in her partner's eyes, which was interesting. She wondered what had brought it about.

At the moment, though, Bayley had no real place in her mind for considering what her partner was thinking. She was about to be driven to a hospital, where Alexa Bliss was waiting for her. Even as an officer with a year's more experience than last time, she was dreading it. It was likely that Bliss was well aware of that, and was enjoying it already.

I'm not going to let her get to me, Bayley thought. It was easier thought than done.


	5. Chapter 5

Bayley felt her stomach churning as she walked through a hallway at one of Stamford's smaller private hospitals, which had a deal in place with the local prison to take prisoners who needed urgent care. Due to it's small size and secure location, it was a good choice for the purpose. Security around Alexa Bliss would be especially high, Bayley knew. No chances would be taken with such a high profile and dangerous prisoner.

And so it proved to be. It wasn't hard to figure out which room Bliss was in, for there was a police officer standing guard on both the left and right sides of the door.

"Martinez, I want y'all to go in first by yourself," Evans said as they approached the door.

Bayley saw that the blinds in the room were closed, preventing Bliss seeing out, or anyone passing by seeing in. As far as Evans' instruction was concerned, she had an alternative idea. "I think officer Rose should come in with me, if that's okay? It will show Bliss that she's not totally in control of the situation. I don't want her to feel like she is."

Evans considered it for a moment before making a decision. "Okay, Martinez, we'll play it your way. Just make sure you keep the objective in mind. We want as many bodies as we can get."

"Yes, ma'am," Bayley said seriously.

"Anything to report?" Evans asked the two officers who were standing guard.

"No, ma'am," one of them replied.

"In you go," Evans said to Bayley and Rose.

Determined not to show any sign off apprehension or weakness to the manipulative Bliss, Bayley opened the door and walked into the room.

The unlikely-looking serial killer was lying down on her bed, with her body covered by a blanket. Her hands were sticking out of either side of it, wrists cuffed to the bed frame. Her usually pretty face was now a mass of horrid bruising, and her left eye was swollen shut. Angry red marks around her neck showed that she had suffered strangulation from some kind of rope, Bayley guessed. Whoever had rescued her must have done so only just in time.

"Bayley!" Bliss cried, acting like she was seeing an old friend. The best smile the bruising allowed was on her face, but there was only coldness in her one open eye. "I wondered how long it would be before you came."

"Hello, Alexa. You're looking well," Bayley said dryly.

"Very funny," Bliss said with a total absence of humour. "Who's this you've brought with you? She's very pretty."

"Officer Rose," she announced for herself.

"Come on, officer Rose, we can do better than that," Alexa encouraged. "I'm Alexa."

"Amanda," she said, devoid of any emotion.

"Amanda Rose. I like that name. There can't be many cops as hot as you out there. Puts you to shame, huh, Bayley?"

"Thanks, Alexa, that's really kind of you," Bayley said, doing her best not to sound annoyed.

"I'm just teasing you," Alexa said playfully, well into her mind games already. "Come and sit down, and you can tell me how things have been with you. Start with why you're in uniform. Lacey told me you made it into something called Intelligence Division. I'm thinking you don't dress like that there?"

As she sat down on a plastic chair near to the bed, Bayley had no intention at all of telling the psychopath anything about her personal life, but she supposed there was no great harm in talking a bit about her work. After all, she needed Bliss engaged in conversation in order to get her to talk about the bodies she had mentioned giving up.

"I'm back in uniform for a month while I work with officer Rose. She's just joining Intelligence, but there's a probationary period they make you go through."

It wasn't exactly the truth, not that Bliss would know that, Bayley thought.

"Are you looking forward to it, Amanda?" Bliss asked.

"We're not here to talk about me," Mandy said dismissively. "Why don't we talk about you? Who was it who kicked your face in?"

"A couple of bitches who are going to get what's coming to them," Bliss said with real viciousness. It wasn't the first time that Bayley had seen the killer in her, but it was still scary. "And I don't like your attitude, Amanda."

"I don't like serial killers," Rose said with a shrug.

"I'd love to get my hands on you. People like you need bringing down of their pedestals. They need to feel fear, the most basic of all human emotions."

Bayley felt sure that Bliss was imagining herself torturing and killing Rose in that moment. It wasn't exactly the purpose of why they were there. The conversation needed to be gotten back on course.

"So, Alexa, let's talk about the bodies you want to give up. I'm happy to work with you on it again, like we did last time."

Bliss grunted a laugh. "Yeah, it's not going to be that simple. You're here today because I haven't seen you for a long time, and I think about you a lot. Also, you're to give Lacey a message. If she ever wants my help again, she had better make sure I get better treatment in prison. I want a better cell, better privileges, and no one had better be allowed to get into my cell again. Only then will I consider giving up more bodies. So, you go tell her that."

"You brought me here to mess with me, and have me deliver a message that you could have perfectly well told detective Evans yourself?" Bayley asked. She was annoyed to say the least at being treated like nothing more than a toy by the evil little murderer.

"Just do what I said, Bayley," Bliss snapped. "This never should have been allowed to happen to me. Do you have any idea how painful this is? I should be able to sue someone. If Evans wants my help again, she had fucking well better do something about it. Now get out. I'm done with you for today."

Bayley decided to leave. There was nothing to be gained by staying. For the first time, she found herself impressed with Rose's ability to keep her mouth shut, for she left the room without saying anything, leaving the door open for Bayley to follow. She left the room without a word or even a look to Alexa Bliss.

"That was quicker than I expected," Evans said once they were out in the hallway. Her tone conveyed her realisation that it wasn't a good thing.

Bayley walked away from the door a few feet in case Bliss might have been able to hear the conversation through it. "A complete waste of time," she reported to the detective, who followed her, as did officer Rose.

"What do you mean?" Evans demanded.

"This was just one of her games," Bayley said. "She has no intention of giving up more bodies, for now at least. She said she wants me to tell you that if you ever want her co-operation again you're to get her a move to a better cell, give her more privileges, and she wants guarantees that she won't be assaulted again. She said if all of that happens, she might consider giving up more bodies."

It was obvious from Evans' expression that she was seriously angry with Bliss. "Can you believe the nerve of that woman?"

"You probably also ought to know that she's going to kill whoever attacked her if she gets half a chance," Rose said.

Evans looked at her. "She said that?"

"Pretty much," Rose said. "The easiest way to get some people to slip up is to make them angry. That's what I did, and she told us the people who attacked her are 'going to get what's coming to them'. It's pretty clear what that means."

"It will be dealt with," Evans promised them. "Good work, y'all, even if it was largely a waste of time. Let's take a ride back to the station. I figure by then it'll be the end of your shift."

* * *

"Martinez, I'll be in touch if and when I need you," Evans said through her open driver's window after Bayley and Rose had gotten out of the Lexus outside of the police station.

"Yes, ma'am," Bayley said. On balance, she hoped they wouldn't meet again. Dealing with Bliss was unpleasant enough to be avoided at all costs.

"Good to meet you, Rose," Evans said.

"You too, ma'am," Rose said, and with that, Evans pulled away.

"Well, that was a shift," Bayley said, shaking her head slightly.

"Wasn't it? I'm thinking about going back to coke production. It was easier than this."

Bayley looked uneasily at her partner.

"I'm joking, for fuck's sake," Rose said, laughing at her. "What do you say we go and get a drink somewhere before we head home? I know I could use one."

Bayley's first instinct was to say no. It was rare enough for her to have the chance to finish a shift pretty much on time and get home to Sasha. But at the same time an opportunity to have a drink with her new partner could go a long way to helping them form a bond on a personal level, which was an important thing in any partnership. And she did have a change of clothes in her locker. "Alright, let's go get changed and I'll come for one drink," she decided. "It can only be one, though. I need to get home to my girlfriend. Yeah, there you go, now you know I'm gay."

Rose seemed to treat the announcement with indifference, which was just fine with Bayley. At least there was no homophobia.

"Tell me about her," Rose said as they walked into the station.

"She's the most beautiful woman you'll ever set eyes on," Bayley said dreamily, taking out her phone to prove the point. She showed Rose her lock screen, which featured a picture of her and Sasha.

"Very pretty," Rose agreed.

"She's an accountant. She's so clever it staggers me sometimes. We're very happy together. I consider myself blessed every day to be with her. One day, I'm going to propose to her."

"That's sweet," Rose said with a smile.

"I guess," Bayley shrugged. "How about you? I'm assuming since you were under for two years, there's no one in your life at the moment?"

"Nope. So if there's anyone in Intelligence I can hook up with..."

Realising she was joking, Bayley giggled. "Sorry, I don't think there is. I admire you, you know? Spending that long under is something I don't think I could do at all."

"Thanks," Rose said genuinely. "It wasn't easy, trust me. I admire you, too. I was thinking that earlier. You're a very different cop to me. I like seeing how you go about your work. My TO was very much like me, so it's new to me watching how you do your thing."

Bayley smiled. "Maybe that's why Thorne put us together? There might be things that both of us can learn."


	6. Chapter 6

"Not a bad start to a shift," officer Rose commented from the passenger seat of the squad car that she was sharing with Bayley.

"It wasn't a bad start to a shift when we didn't get posted to the east side," Bayley said with a bit of a grin.

They were currently parked up outside of a Starbucks, having stopped for a coffee break. So far, their day had consisted of nothing more than issuing a ticket to someone who had run a red light, and giving a warning to someone for a broken tail light. If things kept up at that leisurely pace, they would both be happy. It was unlikely, though.

"So, you said both of the guys in Intelligence are spoken for?" Rose said.

Bayley took a sip from her coffee cup. "Yep. Rollins and Flair are together. Cole is seeing someone, but I don't know any more than that. He keeps his cards close to his chest. The long and short of it is you'll have to shop elsewhere if you want to get some action."

"Noted," Rose said. "I'll have to start doing some window shopping at roll call or something."

"Good luck with that. There's not much to look at among that lot," Bayley giggled.

Rose laughed. "What would you know? You're not into men."

Bayley laughed too, glad that they could enjoy some banter. "That's true. But I can recognise a handsome man when I see one, and I don't see much at SCPD."

"Car eleven foxtrot, eleven foxtrot," a male dispatcher's voice said over the radio. It was Bayley and Rose's call sign for the day.

"Just when we started to enjoy a coffee," Rose said before keying her radio to answer the call. "Eleven foxtrot."

"Eleven foxtrot, respond to 2433 Cooper Street. I've got a woman reporting an assault on her son which took place at school. He's now home with her."

"Eleven foxtrot responding," Rose said.

Bayley downed her coffee in one hit before getting the car moving, despite how hot it was. As she finished it, she noticed Rose looking at her like she was an alien life form. "What?" she asked with amusement.

"How did you just do that? That had to be too hot to drink like that."

Bayley laughed. "I'm used to getting radio calls at inopportune moments, and I've gotten myself used to how not to sacrifice good coffee when it happens. Don't worry, you can sit back and enjoy yours before we get there."

As it wasn't an emergency call, there was no huge urgency to get to Cooper Street. They travelled without the sirens or lights, arriving at the house they had been called to about fifteen minutes later.

Rose pulled her leather gloves on before getting out of the car, whereas Bayley kept hers on while driving. The weather had improved slightly over the past few days, with the ice thankfully no longer a problem. Nonetheless, the cold hit them as they got out of the warm squad car.

Bayley had parked at the bottom of a short driveway which belonged to a small house that could have used some TLC a while ago. The same could have been said about the car that was parked on the driveway. The people who lived there either didn't have much money, or didn't care much about their possessions.

An elderly man carrying a bag of groceries had been letting himself into the house next door when the squad car arrived. He was now loitering in the doorway, trying to look like he was minding his own business while in fact doing the exact opposite.

"Can I help you, sir?" Rose called out, embarrassing the man into immediately hurrying inside his home.

Bayley could easily have smiled. In some ways, such as that, she really liked the way Rose went about her business. But an assault was nothing to smile about. There was serious work to be done. She pressed the doorbell, and the two officers stood there to await a reply.

After a few moments, the door was opened by an overweight African American woman who looked glad to see them. "Hello, officers," she said.

"Good morning, ma'am," Bayley said. "I'm officer Martinez, this is officer Rose. We were called to this address on a report of an assault?"

"That's right. You'd better come in." The home owner stood aside to admit them.

"Thank you," Bayley said as she walked in. "Was it you who made the report?"

"It was."

Bayley had her notepad out. "Your name, ma'am?"

"Shandra Wallace. It was my son, Kyle, who was attacked."

"And where is Kyle now?"

"Upstairs, in his room. Follow me."

Bayley followed Shandra up the stairs, with Rose behind her. The house was clean and smelled nice, but was pretty run down. Money seemed to be the problem. Bayley guessed that Shandra was a single mom doing her best with the little she had.

"Mom, please tell me you didn't call the cops?" a male voice said from inside a bedroom, the door of which was standing open.

"I had no choice, Kyle," Shandra said as she escorted the two officers into the bedroom. "This is the third time. Me going to the school did nothing, so this is the next step to get that son of a bitch to stop bullying you."

Bayley saw that Kyle was in his late teens, and currently possessed a fat lip and a bruised cheek. He had been on the receiving end of more than one punch, it seemed.

"He came home like that an hour ago," Shandra reported.

"Hi, Kyle. I'm officer Martinez and this is officer Rose," Bayley said as Rose lingered near the door for want of space in the small bedroom. "That looks pretty nasty. Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"No. I don't want cops involved," Kyle said. His tone wasn't aggressive, Bayley noticed. He was likely fearing further bullying if cops showed up to talk to whoever was doing it. It was a realistic concern to have.

"Well, I do. I'm not having you getting beat up no more," Shandra said. "It's always the same boy doing it. His name's Darren Hill. They both go to Randle High."

"Was it Darren Hill who attacked you today, Kyle?" Bayley asked. One of her best attributes as a police officer was the fact that people talked to her when they might not talk to a lot of other officers.

"Yes," Kyle said sullenly. "He jumped me from behind, pushed me over and punched me in the face. Now can you leave me alone?"

"What are you going to do about it?" Shandra demanded of the officers.

"We'll go to the school, find Darren Hill, and we'll give him a stern warning," Bayley said.

"A stern warning? Are you serious?" Shandra protested. "Have you seen my boy's face?"

"Trust me, ma'am, I'm good at warnings," Rose said, speaking for the first time. "After I'm done with him today, he won't be bullying your son, or anyone else, again."

Bayley joined both Shandra and Kyle in weighing up officer Rose. The look on her face led them all to draw the same conclusion: What she said would be exactly what happened.

"Well alright then," Shandra said after a moment.

"If you have any other problems or concerns, you give us a call," Bayley said.

"Thank you, I will," Shandra said.

With that, the officers left the house and made the short drive to Randle High. It only took them a few minutes. When they arrived, the saw that it was break time at the school. In spite of the cold weather, the yard was full of students; some playing soccer, others standing around talking, others sat on a grassy area on the far side of the yard.

"This should be fun," Bayley said dryly. "We're going to have to find a teacher who can show us where he is, assuming he's here."

"Yeah," Rose said. "Let's go."

Sensing that her partner was up for this particular task, Bayley decided that she would take something of a back seat and allow her to do things her way. After all, this was an evaluation. It would be kind of pointless if Rose didn't get to do anything to evaluate.

When the two officers approached the school yard's gate, they were greeted by a male teacher who was guarding it, presumably to stop students trying to leave the site.

"Help you, officers?" the teacher asked.

"We need to speak to a Darren Hill. Can you direct us to him?" Rose asked.

"No, but I know someone who can." The teacher turned and called a short distance across the yard to a colleague as he opened the gate to let the officers in. "Mrs Morton, can I borrow you, please?"

The other teacher came over right away, trying her best to look helpful in front of the two cops. "How can I help?"

"Direct us to Darren Hill, please," Rose said.

"Uh, sure," Morton said, looking around to locate the student in question. "Can I ask what this is about?"

"Bullying and assault," Rose said. "Mr Hill is about to get a strongly-worded warning about his behaviour."

"Oh, good," Morton said. She pointed at the grassy area, towards a group of three boys. "He's actually just over there. You see the group of three boys? Darren is the one with the dark blue coat on."

"Thanks," Rose said.

"I'm going to leave this one to you," Bayley told her partner as they walked across the yard, drawing the attention of pretty much all of the students on the way.

"Perfect, because I've got this," Rose said.

One of the guys sitting with Hill noticed them approaching, told the group, and joined them in laughing about it. Bayley hoped that the bully would find things less amusing shortly.

"Darren Hill?" Rose asked when they reached the group.

"Yeah?" he said in an insolent tone, looking up at them. He was a tall, good looking blonde who probably had no shortage of attention from girls. He looked like one of the 'popular' kids to Bayley, which was something she definitely hadn't been.

"Get up and come with me," Rose said. Her voice and her manner were no nonsense, which was probably why he complied without any backchat. There was some attitude in the way he got up and sauntered after her as she walked away so that they could talk one on one.

Bayley ended up not being able to hear what was being said, but she could judge the conversation based on Hill's body language. He started off cocky and arrogant, like being spoken to by the police was funny for him. However, within a couple of minutes, he was standing almost to attention and giving Rose the 'yes, ma'am' treatment. Whatever she had said had gotten through to him.

When the talk was over, Rose walked back towards Bayley, leaving Hill standing there, probably thinking through whatever had been said.

"Let's go," Rose said, walking past Bayley.

Bayley fell in step with her partner. "What did you say to him?"

Rose looked at her and winked. "If I told you that, you wouldn't need me next time."

The answer didn't surprise Bayley at all.


	7. Chapter 7

"Everyone here is on special assignment tonight," sergeant Rousey told the group in the roll call room ahead of an evening shift. Bayley and Mandy Rose were among then.

"Is it raiding a titty bar?" one of the male officers asked.

As stern as the sergeant was, she sometimes tolerated a joke during her briefings. Tolerate was the word, for although she might not reprimand the officer who had spoken, there was no chance of her joining in with the ripple of laughter.

"No," Rousey said. "There's a big basketball game taking place tonight at the Snickers Centre. For those not in the know, I'll keep it simple. It's Stamford against New York, which means there's a fierce rivalry between the teams, and the fans. At a fixture here last year, there were some minor disturbances. Then, at the following game in New York, there was violence. We have reason to believe there may be trouble again today, so your jobs will be to assist the security staff inside the arena, and to maintain order outside."

The sergeant went on to talk over the details of the operation, then finished by assigning officers to the areas in and around the arena based on a marked up plan view that was taped to her whiteboard.

"Martinez, Rose, area three."

Bayley didn't need to look again at the plan to know that area three was right outside of the arena's main entrance. She heard Rose sigh quietly beside her. Like Bayley herself, she must have been hoping to be stationed inside, out of the cold. But there was no such luck.

"You know how many nights I spent standing outside in the cold while I was under? None," Rose said after they were dismissed from the briefing, making it clear how little she was looking forward to the night's work.

"No, you spent them in warehouses, covered in coke," Bayley quipped.

"But I was warm," Rose chuckled.

They went back to the locker room, where they put on their thick police coats and gloves. With that done, they assembled in the parking garage, ready to board one of the vans heading for the Snickers Centre.

"You know what I just thought about?" Rose said. "It's not far short of a month we've been back in uniform. I haven't seen anyone from Intelligence, not even once."

"We've got our own way in and out of the station," Bayley replied, showing pride in the division she belonged to. "I was texting with Charlotte - detective Flair – the other day. She said things are going well with them. I'm looking forward to getting back there."

Rose knew better than to ask if she would be getting a recommendation to go as well. They both knew that Bayley's verdict would be going to commander Thorne, and that the yes or no decision would still be the commander's to make.

Twenty minutes later, they were disembarking outside of the arena, along with the other officers who had been assigned to area three. The group quickly organised themselves, with Bayley and Rose ending up at the bottom of the steps that took visitors up to the arena's entrance. They were joined by two male officers. Bayley knew one of them - a good cop in his late forties called Shane McMahon.

"What's up, McMahon?" Bayley said in greeting.

"Hello, Martinez," McMahon said in a friendly tone. "Still slumming it in a uniform, I see?"

"For another week or so," Bayley smiled. She then gestured to her partner. "This is Amanda Rose."

"Mandy," Rose said as they shook hands.

"Shane," he replied.

Bayley noticed the way they looked at each other. It seemed that her partner liked her an older man, which was somewhat amusing.

"This is Al Snow," McMahon said, introducing his partner. More handshakes were exchanged.

"Nice night for it," Snow said sarcastically, referring to the cold.

"Isn't it?" Bayley said. "I've committed myself to never moaning about sitting in a nice warm van on a stakeout again once I'm back in Intelligence."

Bayley found herself in conversation with Snow, but kept an ear on Rose and McMahon. The inquisitive nature of a cop extended to the field of gossip.

"You're hoping to join Thorne's team?" McMahon asked Rose, although he already knew the answer, as did all of the officers on their shift, thanks to sergeant Rousey.

"Yeah, I'm hoping. I'd like to think my assessment is going pretty well."

"What did you do before this?" McMahon asked.

"I was under for two years." It was clear that Rose expected that to impress him, as well it should.

"Two years?" McMahon exclaimed. "That's a seriously long time. You must have been really good at it. What were you doing?"

"Dealing coke, originally. Then I moved up to helping with the manufacture, packaging a distribution. I was well in, and working on wrapping up the whole organisation. But then Thorne arrested one of the dealers, turned him, and showed up and busted me. Two years of work was gone just like that."

"That's really rough. But I can see why Intelligence want you after something like that."

"Thanks," Rose said.

As the first groups of fans began to arrive, Bayley's conversation with Snow petered out. The opposite was true for Rose and McMahon, who didn't waste much time in starting to flirt with each other. Bayley could have shook her head in wonder. The confidence that some people had was almost alien to her.

It wasn't long before things started to get busier, bringing an end to casual conversation. The officers were now focused on their job, watching the crowds for signs of potential trouble.

"Hello, officer. Can I get a selfie?" a young man wearing a merchandise jacket of the Stamford team asked Rose. He was clearly trying to impress his friends, who all probably enjoyed seeing such an attractive cop. Bayley couldn't help feeling a little jealous, as stupid as that was, for it had never happened to her.

"Sure," Rose said reluctantly. She managed to put a somewhat convincing smile on her face as the fan got the picture with her. He thanked her and walked off, with one of his friends saying he should have asked for her number.

"Not sure if yes or no was the right answer?" Rose said to Bayley.

"Yes was okay, I think," Bayley said. "There's nothing wrong with humouring or even having a bit of fun with the public, so long as there's not something important requiring your attention at the time."

"Right," Rose said, looking a bit relieved. It showed Bayley that she was taking the assessment seriously, and really wanted the Intelligence gig, which was important.

Off to their left, they heard raised voices. Two men were getting heated with each other.

"Guys," McMahon said, in case Bayley and Rose hadn't picked up on the potential trouble.

Bayley saw two men squaring up to each other. One was wearing a Stamford hoodie. The other had a cap on with the badge of the New York team on it. The New York fan pushed the Stamford fan, who responded by pushing him right back. Things were getting even more heated, and a fight seemed imminent.

"Alright, back it up!" Bayley ordered, reaching the men just before violence had a chance to break out.

Unfortunately for her, her instruction wasn't complied with immediately, as she had expected it to be. The New York fan pushed the Stamford fan again, hard enough to make him fall down.

"Fuck you!" the aggressor shouted at his fallen adversary.

"That's enough! Back off!" McMahon said. He grabbed hold of the New York fan, attempting to move him away and settle things down.

Taking all of the officers by surprise, the fan punched McMahon in the face, knocking him down.

Bayley didn't even have a chance to respond to the violent act. With a quickness that almost defied belief, Rose went in, already with her baton drawn. She savagely struck the guy in the side of the face with it, making him hit the ground like a bag of wet sand. The blow was too forceful for Bayley's liking, and things got worse when Rose added another stiff shot to the guy's ribs while he was on the floor.

Several people started shouting in protest at the treatment. Thankfully, no one was filming it on a phone, Bayley saw as she moved in to make the arrest. Other officers, including Snow, started working on getting the crowd back, promptly diffusing the immediate situation.

"She knocked my fucking teeth out," the injured man protested through pain and a mouthful of blood that leaked onto the sidewalk as Bayley cuffed him. She could see a couple of teeth lying nearby.

"You assaulted a police officer, which you're under arrest for," Bayley replied, proceeding to read him his rights.

"You okay?" Rose asked McMahon, after helping him up.

"Going to have a fat lip, but I'll be fine," McMahon said.

"At least you're not the only one," Rose said, glaring at the guy lying on the floor.

"I'm going to have your badge," he replied, trying to spit blood in Rose's direction.

Great, Bayley thought. Now Rose was going to have a complaint made against her, it seemed, right near the end of her assessment period.

* * *

The next morning, Bayley and Rose had been told to report to sergeant Rousey's office before roll call. The reason hadn't been a mystery to either of them. Bayley had decided not to say much to her partner, opting to see how she handled the conversation with Rousey on her own.

"I'm sure you know why you're here," Rousey said once the two officers were seated in front of her desk.

"Yes, ma'am," Rose said.

"I've got a guy, Richard Agnew, in a cell with two missing teeth and a cracked rib, making an official complaint against you, officer Rose. Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"Yes, ma'am. Agnew is a New York fan. He got into an altercation with a Stamford fan near to where I was standing with officers Martinez, McMahon and Snow. We moved in to separate them. McMahon grabbed hold of Agnew, who punched him in the face. Upon seeing that, I went in and hit Agnew with my baton, wanting to take him down before he was a danger to anyone else."

"And you struck him a second time when he was on the ground?" Rousey asked.

"Yes, ma'am. I wanted to make sure he stayed down. At that point, officer Martinez jumped on him and made the arrest."

"Subduing Agnew was the only reason you hit him so hard, twice? You'll do better if you answer me honestly, Rose," Rousey said. The familiar steely look was on her face.

Rose weighed up an answer for a couple of seconds. "I believe if you hit a cop, you should end up getting hit and coming off worse yourself. He punched McMahon in the face, so yeah, I tuned him up a bit."

Well, I'm not sure that was the best answer, Bayley thought.

"I can understand where you're coming from," Rousey said. "But the problem you've got is that a formal complaint has been made against you. There will have to be an investigation, which will include a review of any CCTV footage of the incident that might exist. If it's found that you used excessive force, you could be in serious trouble."

"Yes, sergeant," Rose said stiffly. "What do I do now, ma'am?"

Bayley expected them to be told to get the hell out of the office. Indeed, Rousey seemed on the verge of saying exactly that before changing her mind. It gave Bayley the impression that the sergent agreed with Rose's reasoning, even if she wasn't going to say so.

"If I were you?" Rousey said thoughtfully, looking mainly at Bayley. "I'd get in contact with commander Thorne and tell her what's happened. She might be able to help you, if she chooses to."


	8. Chapter 8

After dinner that night, Bayley and Sasha were relaxing together on their couch, watching one of their favourite comedy shows. It was the perfect way for them both to unwind after stressful days at work.

The sound of someone knocking on their door wasn't part of the plan.

"Who the heck is that?" Bayley asked in annoyance.

"I don't know. I'm not expecting anyone," Sasha said.

Bayley was tempted to suggest ignoring it, but she thought better of it and got up, wondering if it was possibly a neighbour who needed something.

When she looked through the peephole in the apartment's front door, Bayley got a big surprise. It wasn't a neighbour who had come to see her. She quickly opened the door and addressed the visitor. "Commander Thorne. Hi."

"Hello, Bayley. I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" Thorne said in her prim and proper English accent.

"Not at all," Bayley lied smoothly. "Please, come in."

"Thanks," Thorne said, walking in as Bayley stood aside, holding the door open.

Meanwhile, Sasha had stood to greet the unexpected visitor. She and Thorne hadn't met each other before.

"Commander Thorne, meet my girlfriend, Sasha," Bayley said as she closed the front door.

"Lucy," the commander said. "Good to meet you, Sasha."

"You too," Sasha smiled, showing a hint of nervousness. Bayley knew that her boss had that effect on many people, as imposing a personality as she was. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"No, thank you," Thorne said as she walked through to the living area, with Bayley behind her. "I just need a brief chat with Bayley, if that's okay?"

"Sure. Have a seat, and I'll leave you to it," Sasha said. With that, she walked through to the bedroom. Bayley figured she would carry on watching the comedy show on the TV in there. The one in the living room was now muted.

"What can I do for you, commander?" Bayley asked as both women sat on the couch, half turned to face each other.

"After your call earlier, I was able to get my hands on the CCTV of the incident involving Rose last night. Before we get into that, her evaluation is now over. I want to get your verdict on her."

"Oh, okay," Bayley said, floundering for time. She had expected to have a chance to put together a well-considered report at the end of the evaluation period, not to have to go into it at a moment's notice. "I would describe her as headstrong. She's very confident of her own abilities as a cop; maybe too confident. I'm not entirely convinced that she's yet left behind some of the character traits she may have picked up while undercover, either. Dealing with the public is not one of her strengths. On the other hand, she's a very tough person mentally, and she's willing to get stuck into any task. I wouldn't doubt her loyalty to the badge for a moment. And we already know she's excellent at undercover work, which could be a big asset for Intelligence."

"Would you trust her with your life, as a partner?" Thorne asked.

"Yes, I would," Bayley said without hesitation.

"Based on what you've seen, would you recommend her for Intelligence Division?"

Now was the big moment, Bayley realised. For the first time, she had the power to make or break a fellow officer's career. Thankfully, the answer to this particular question was one that she already thought about at length. "I'm not sure I would recommend her for uniform, at least not without some re-training. But for Intelligence? Yes, I would. I think she'll be a good fit, and you'll be the ideal person to straighten out what needs to be straightened out."

"Good, because I'm taking her," Thorne said, matter of fact.

Bayley had to smile, now wondering how relevant her whole evaluation process had been all along. It seemed that Thorne's mind had been fairly made up before she had arrived for the impromptu meeting. But there was a problem. "What about the complaint? What did you think of how Rose acted last night?"

"What did you think of it?" Thorne countered.

"I think she defended a fellow officer, albeit a bit too forcefully. But I know a lot of cops wouldn't find it too forceful after the guy punched a cop."

"I'd be inclined to that opinion," Thorne said.

Of course you would, Bayley thought. "But what about the complaint?"

"That's the question, isn't it?"

* * *

The next morning, Bayley was back ay the station, dressed in jeans and a black fleece style jacket. It felt good not to be in uniform, for it meant a return to Intelligence Division.

"Morning," she said as she walked into the office, finding all of her colleagues, including Amanda Rose, there before her even though she herself was early.

Greetings came back to her from everyone. Almost simultaneously, commander Thorne walked out of her office at the far end of the room.

"Ah, good, everyone's here," the boss said. "I'll be with you for this morning's briefing shortly. First, Martinez, Rose, join me in my office."

Unsure what to expect, Bayley joined Rose in walking over to Thorne's office. When she walked in, she saw that officer McMahon was sitting in there, sporting a swollen and discoloured lip.

"Oh, hi, McMahon," Bayley said.

"Morning," McMahon said to both of the arrivals, sharing a smile with Rose that wasn't lost on Bayley. She wondered if they had hooked up already.

"Officer McMahon and I have just had a chat," Thorne said as she sat down behind her desk. Bayley and Rose remained standing. "I also had a chat with Richard Agnew this morning. After both of those conversations, I'm happy to say that we have a way out of this mess that works for everyone."

"Sounds good," Bayley said.

"This is how things stand," Thorne said. "Officer McMahon has agreed to drop the assault charge on Agnew. In return, Agnew will withdraw his complaint against officer Rose."

"How did you get him to agree to that?" Rose asked.

Thorne kept her face impassive. "I can be very persuasive."

Bayley knew that to be a fact. She could only imagine what the commander had said or threatened to get Agnew to drop his complaint. One thing that could never be doubted was that Thorne did everything she could for her people, even a new recruit who didn't know for sure that she was even recruited yet. Thorne also had herself in the enviable position that Rose would already owe her a favour on day one.

"Thank you," Rose said.

"That'll be all, officer McMahon. Thanks for coming in. Rollins will show you out," Thorne said.

"Thank you, ma'am," McMahon said as he stood to leave. He nodded to the two officers, and made his way out, closing the door behind him.

"Now, officer Rose, let's talk about your evaluation," Thorne said.

Bayley saw Rose shift position slightly, sitting closer to the edge of her chair. It showed how much the position in Intelligence mattered to her.

"There are some concerns that I have, and they're shared by Martinez. But there's nothing that I don't think can be worked on or improved in time, and you do have a lot of attributes that make you a good fit for the work we do here. For those reasons, I am going to offer you a place in Intelligence Division, effective immediately."

"That's amazing! Thank you, ma'am! I won't let you down," Rose promised sincerely. "And thank you, Bayley. I know I might have a few rough edges to smooth out, but I think we work well together."

"Me too. Congratulations," Bayley said with a smile.

"I'm glad you're both getting along so well, because you're going to be partners," Thorne announced.

"I'm glad," Rose said warmly, looking at Bayley.

"Then all that remains to be said is welcome to Intelligence Division," Thorne said. "You're a member of the elite in Stamford policing now. Make sure you perform accordingly."

"I will," Rose promised.

With that, Thorne leaned over her desk and offered her hand, and the two women shook to seal the deal.

"I can't wait to see what my first case will be," Rose said.

"Let's hope you don't regret saying that," Bayley said, and all three women laughed.

END


End file.
